Biology

Physiology

Gyarados is a large dragon Pokémon most similar in appearance to those seen in Chinese mythology. Its serpentine body is largely blue, but its underbelly is yellow. It has four white fins down its back. Its mouth is very large and gaping, but bears some resemblance to that of its pre-evolution Magikarp. Like Magikarp, it has barbels on its face. Its pectoral and dorsal fins also resemble Magikarp's. Gyarados is only rarely shown with its mouth closed.

Gender differences

A female has white barbels.

Special abilities

Gyarados, like most dragon-like Pokémon, has a high Attack stat, causing it to rely more on physical attacks than special ones. It is one of the few Template:Type2s able to wield both fire and electric attacks.

Behavior

This Pokémon bears little resemblance to its docile pre-evolution. Gyarados is infamously known for its fierce temper and wanton destructive tendencies. Once it has worked itself into a frenzy, it will not calm until everything around it is destroyed—this tendency is attributed to the dramatic structural changes its brain undergoes during evolution. It seems attracted to violence, although this Pokémon is very rarely seen in the wild. During times of human conflict Gyarados are said to appear, burning entire cities down to the ground.

Groups of Gyarados were seen from within a submarine disguised as or styled after a Gyarados by Jessie, James and Meowth in The Pi-Kahuna shortly before the onset of a massive, annual tidal wave celebrated by local surfers who were apparently not aware of the annual migration. According to James, the Gyarados gathered each year in this location to lay their eggs.

When Red borrows Green's Charizard to travel to Mt. Silver, he temporarily trades his Gyarados to Green. It later appears as one of Green's Pokémon in Template:PSV, used against Entei, and later part of his revealed team during the Gym Leader faceoff. Prior to the FireRed and LeafGreen saga, Green returns Gyarados to Red.

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Trivia

According to some Nintendo of America artwork, Gyarados was originally slated to have the English name Skullkraken, a combination of the words "skull" and "kraken" (a mythological sea monster). This wouldn't have worked in the games though because the game only allows a maximum of 10 letters in a Pokémon's name.

In Generation II, it became the only 100%-certain Template:Shiny2 encounter and the first of only two Template:Shiny2 Pokémon to be integrated into a game's plot (the second was Celebi in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon 2). The shiny Generation II Gyarados is believed to be the same one mentioned in the television show the beginning of the Generation IV games.

Gyarados has minor differences between all of its Template:Shiny2 sprites, making it slightly unique to each game. In Gold and Silver, Gyarados' shiny sprite is gold and red, in Ruby and Sapphire, its sprites have a pink hue to them. In FireRed and LeafGreen, its sprites appear more orange. Lastly, in Diamond and Pearl, the sprite loses most of its gold and becomes a standard red color. Why there have been so many changes is unknown.

On a side note, Gyarados's normal colors during Gold and Silver showed it being darker hue of blue than previously displayed. This was corrected in Pokémon Crystal.

In the Pokémon anime, Gyarados's eyes are violet instead of the red that appears in its sprites and official artwork.

Origin

It appears to be based on a sea dragon or sea serpent. Gyarados is partially based on a legend about how carp that leapt over the Dragon Gate would become dragons. Several waterfalls and cataracts in China are believed to be the location of the Dragon Gate. This legend is an allegory of the drive and efforts needed to overcome obstacles (which can be tied to the fact that Gyarados' pre-evolution, Magikarp, could possibly take a lot of drive and effort to legitimately evolve into Gyarados).

Name origin

Gyarados's name may be derived from a combination of 虐殺 gyakusatsu massacre/slaughter, and 逆境 gyakkyō, hardship/adversity. Both words relate to the creature's violent nature and the hardship it experienced before evolving. The dos may just indicate that it's the second in its evolutionary line. Alternatively, the end of Gyarados' name, ドス dosu, is a Japanese onomatopeic word representing the piercing of flesh, once again owing to Gyarados' violent nature.